Skywatcher Heritage 150p Virtuoso GTI- Issue with observing

[RS1]

Hi All,

 

Merry Christmas to you all!

 

I am very new to the stargazing and telescope use- a complete beginner. So, there is a high chance this may be a silly/noob question and, if so, I apologise.

 

I have never used a telescope before but finally took the plunge and bought the Skywatcher Heritage 150p Virtuoso GTI as I understand it is a good one for beginners.

 

When I set it up, it seemed easy and hardly needed any assembly. However, when I try to observe after putting in the 25mm piece, all I see is a white blurry screen. No visibility of any objects whatsoever, not even a tree or pole in direct line of sight. If I try to wave my hand in the front of the telescope main tube, I see faint shadow of my hand but no clarity. The white view seems to be the same of the main lens colour, as visible from the front end of the main tube.

 

I have attached photos of my view and the set-up for reference.

 

I should mention that I bought the telescope brand new from Ryda (Ryda.com.au). I'm not sure if I am missing something or doing something wrong, or the telescope is faulty, but I am hoping to get some guidance please.

 

Thank you!

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL. From your photos it appears that yo have the scope the wrong way round. You view  through the open end.

[RS1]

1 minute ago, laudropb said:

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL. From your photos it appears that yo have the scope the wrong way round. You view  through the open end.

Thank you, laudropb, for the welcome and help! I am watching through the eyepiece next to the red dot finder. Though I have taken the photos of the front end to show there is nothing covering that end, and also to show the white colour which resembles the view. Any further suggestions please?

[laudropb]

It looks like you are trying to view through the bottom of the scope. The white disc is the mirror holder.you view through the open end.

[Tiny Clanger]

Laudrop is right, you have the mirror end of the telescope pointing upward in your photo. Look at the illustration on the front of the instruction leaflet, you will see that the extended front section with the cross shaped supports are the actual front end of the 'scope, the end with the removable big dust cap. Yes, you look in the side, but need to point the telescope tube upward so it sees more than its own base.

[RS1]

Please see the attached photos. In the first photo, the arrow points to where I was observing from (the space where '1' is written in the photo). The telescope points outwards to the front yard and I was originally next to the telescope with my back to the wall. The photos were taken afterwards.

 

Also, for reference, the second photo shows a page of the instruction manual. I am viewing from Eyepiece (labeled A).

 

Hope that is the correct way.Please advise if not.

[Tiny Clanger]

My heritage 150 (with a home made cover for the open section and extra finder) pointed as if in night time use.

[RS1]

Thank you all, I see what you all mean.. and dear God, what a rookie mistake! Now that I know, it was so obvious.. LOL!

 

I apologise for my naivety and thank you all for your patience with me 🙂 I can finally get on to stargazing!

 

Merry Christmas to you all! 

[RS1]

40 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

My heritage 150 (with a home made cover for the open section and extra finder) pointed as if in night time use.

Hi Tiny Clanger, lovely home made cover and extra finder. If you could please give any pointers on the cover that would be highly appreciated. Also, curious about the extra finder. Which one do you use please?

Edited December 25, 2023 by RS1
Correction

[Tiny Clanger]

23 minutes ago, RS1 said:

Hi Tiny Clanger, lovely home made cover and extra finder. If you could please give any pointers on the cover that would be highly appreciated. Also, curious about the extra finder. Which one do you use please?

A bit busy to reply at the moment- it's lunchtime on Xmas day here in the UK !

[bosun21]

54 minutes ago, RS1 said:

Hi Tiny Clanger, lovely home made cover and extra finder. If you could please give any pointers on the cover that would be highly appreciated. Also, curious about the extra finder. Which one do you use please?

Here’s a video showing how to make and fit a DIY light shield along with a focuser tweak. The finder on @Tiny Clanger’s scope is a 6x30 RACI.

 

 

[RS1]

Thank you, bosun21. Much appreciated! 🙂

[Albir phil]

Hey no need to apologize when I first started stargazing many years ago,. lived in the north of England, I thought if I went to the south of UK I would see the southern stars.We only learn by asking WHY🤔

[Tiny Clanger]

The finder on my heritage 150 'scope is actually a  9x50 RACI.    RACI is short for  right angled correct image finder,  it shows the sky right way round (some similar looking right angle finders give you a left/right reversed view.)

One of these https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/astro-essentials-9x50-right-angled-erecting-finderscope.html

It does require drilling holes to bolt a finder shoe onto the 'scope tube to hold the finder though.

 

[RS1]

7 hours ago, Albir phil said:

Hey no need to apologize when I first started stargazing many years ago,. lived in the north of England, I thought if I went to the south of UK I would see the southern stars.We only learn by asking WHY🤔

Cheers @Albir phil 🙂

[RS1]

5 hours ago, Tiny Clanger said:

The finder on my heritage 150 'scope is actually a  9x50 RACI.    RACI is short for  right angled correct image finder,  it shows the sky right way round (some similar looking right angle finders give you a left/right reversed view.)

One of these https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/astro-essentials-9x50-right-angled-erecting-finderscope.html

It does require drilling holes to bolt a finder shoe onto the 'scope tube to hold the finder though.

 

Ah great, I will look into that. Thank you @Tiny Clanger 🙂

[GrumpiusMaximus]

You've got yourself a nice telescope there.

Other than looking through it the right way, the best tip I can give you is to make sure that you get the red dot finder aligned properly.  During the day, find a chimney or similar as far away as you can reasonably see and then get that chimney (or equivalent) in the middle of your centre of view in your telescope.  Then, using the adjustment knobs on the red dot finder, get it so that the red dot is also pointing at the chimney.  Obviously, do NOT point the telescope at the Sun.

This means that when you're pointing the telescope around the sky at night, once you've put the red dot over the object you want to view then in theory looking through the eyepiece should show you that object.  You use the finder as it has a much lower magnification and it's surprisingly hard to find objects directly with a telescope as you can see a lot more than you can with the naked eye, and what you can see loses context quickly because it's magnified.  If you're using the Virtuoso system you'll probably need to point the telescope at a known object to start with to set the position of the scope in the software so that it can find things for you.

Most importantly of all, have fun.  Once you get the hang of it I'm sure you'll find it rewarding and fascinating!

Edited December 26, 2023 by GrumpiusMaximus

[RS1]

That's very helpful, thank you @GrumpiusMaximus 🙂

 

And you are right, now that I know the correct way to observe (lol), today's aim is to align the red dot finder and working out the collimation. So, your tips are super helpful! 🙂

 

Yesterday was a wet and cloudy here in Australia, so couldn't do much, but today is looking better. So the journey starts!

Edited December 26, 2023 by RS1

[GrumpiusMaximus]

2 minutes ago, RS1 said:

That's very helpful, thank you @GrumpiusMaximus 🙂

 

And you are right, now that I know the correct way to observe (lol), today's aim is to align the red dot finder and working out the collimation. So, your tips are super helpful! 🙂

 

Yesterday was a wet and cloudy here in Australia, so couldn't do much, but today is looking better. So the journey starts!

You've bought a telescope.  You'll soon learn that this angers the sky Gods and guarantees at least a week of thick cloud.

[RS1]

LOL.. Ah, learning that the hard way 😁

[bosun21]

The Skywatcher reflectors generally come reasonably well collimated. Try using the telescope first before you start adjusting the collimation. If you are unsure what you are doing with collimation it's very easy to find yourself chasing your tail and making things worse.

Edited December 26, 2023 by bosun21
Typo

[RS1]

Fair point @bosun21, I will use the telescope first before getting into collimation. Thank you!

 

Another good day turned into a cloudy and rainy one, as @GrumpiusMaximus predicted.. LOL! Will have to wait till sky clears. Hopefully, it won't be a week LOL.

 

A sincere Thank You to all of you for your helpful ideas and tips!

[Starfazed]

Been at this malarkey for 8 months now and like the OP I'm still nearly always seeing white fluff down my scope. I think the cloud gods must be punishing me severely.